New Hampshire man charged with illegally transporting hazmat loads

By Land Line staff | Monday, August 10, 2015

A truck driver from New Hampshire faces four counts of illegally transporting hazardous materials.

Lewis Niles, of Whitefield, N.H., was indicted in U.S. District Court in Concord, N.H., on July 29, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General.

Niles is accused of transporting diesel fuel and flammable liquids without a commercial driver's license, hazardous materials endorsement, placards or shipping papers, the release stated. The indictment alleges Niles transported the hazardous materials, maintained in plastic totes, in various vehicles. Neither the vehicles nor the containers were marked with the required hazardous materials placards. He is believed to have illegally transported heating fuel both interstate and intrastate, from September 2013 through April 2014.

The indictment alleges Niles transported diesel fuel and fuel oil in a container with a capacity of more than 119 gallons and that he sold and transported over 2,400 gallons of the hazardous materials to be used as fuel for heating furnaces. He is also accused of selling the materials to a business and to individuals throughout New Hampshire, all in violation of federal law.